Daily Sun’s Deon du Plessis dies at 59

Deon du Plessis, founder of the Daily Sun, died from acute bronchitis at his home at the age of 59 in Johannesburg on Sunday.

“Deon’s death leaves a huge void. He was a consummate journalist and a taskmaster of note,” Daily Sun‘s editor-in-chief Themba Khumalo said in a statement.

“A big man in every sense of the word, Du Plessis transformed the newspaper landscape when he founded Daily Sun in 2002, in partnership with Media 24,” colleague and design consultant for the newspaper Richard McNeill said.

Du Plessis was an Argus Africa journalist, after which he became the editor of the Pretoria News and then managing director of Gauteng newspapers at Independent Newspapers, where he came up with the idea of the Daily Sun.

He then left Independent and joined Media24, who helped fund the newspaper with him.

The Daily Sun tabloid changed the South African media landscape, uncovering a whole new layer of newspaper readership among lower income groups.

Another brain child of Du Plessis was the Sunday Sun.

“His death is devastating for us all. It is hard to imagine the Daily Sun without him,” said Media24’s emerging markets CEO Fergus Sampson.

“#DeonduPlessis, father of South African red tops. He proved tabloids don’t have to be cheap & nasty, but can be a force for good. #RIP,” wrote freelance journalist Raymond Joseph. – Sapa

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